Panama Papers a year on: Nearly 80 countries conduct 150 probes: HumSub.TV: It’s been a year since the Panama Papers burst on the scene. The scandal has rocked governments, exposed high-profile personalities, triggered scores of investigations around the world and dealt a blow to Panama as an offshore financial hub.

A trove of 11.5 million digital records from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that revealed how many of the world’s wealthy used offshore companies to stash assets. The data were leaked to a German newspaper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and reports appeared in major media from April 3, 2016. Revelations continue to trickle out.

In the immediate aftermath, Iceland’s prime minister was forced to resign after the leak showed his family sheltered assets offshore.

Other people were exposed to scrutiny, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, former British prime minister David Cameron, Argentina’s football icon Lionel Messi and President Mauricio Macri, Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar and many current and former politicians and associates.

At least 150 inquiries or investigations have been launched in 79 countries, with authorities examining many cases for possible tax evasion or money laundering, according to the Centre for Public Integrity, a US nonprofit group that until February hosted the now-independent ICIJ.

France put Panama on its blacklist of tax havens. The Central American nation is now scrambling to show the world it has cleaned up its act, notably through the sharing of tax information with other countries, to prevent the European Union and other jurisdictions following suit.

Mossack Fonseca’s partners, Juergen Mossack and Ramon Fonseca Mora, were arrested on February 9 on money-laundering charges. They remain in custody pending the outcome of a Panama investigation into their firm’s alleged links to a vast Brazilian bribery case known as “Operation Car Wash.”

In March, Panamanian prosecutors said they were resuming their Panama Papers probe that had been suspended for two months for legal technical issues.

This is not clear. Some politicians still have a Panama-sized cloud hanging over them, though others named in the files, such as Macri and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, were cleared.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court is expected to rule mid-April on a Panama Papers revelation that Prime Minister Sharif’s children owned British Virgin Island (BVI) companies that dealt in millions of dollars in property transactions.

But while the Panama Papers shone the light on Panama, the scandal has focused attention on the BVI (where many entities managed by Mossack Fonseca were located) and other zones where financial secrecy reigns.

Those jurisdictions include the US states of Nevada, Wyoming and South Dakota. Advocacy groups note the United States has not signed onto an OECD information-sharing standard meant to put the squeeze on tax havens.

At the same time, though, the US under President Donald Trump, and Britain, which is navigating Brexit, are looking at possible tax changes that could entrench practices at home and in their low-tax dependent territories — such as the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.

A year ago, the Panama Papers raised the prospect of a global tax clean-up campaign against the wealthy using secretive offshore entities.

In 2017, though, that may end up being less of a priority for much of the world as it tries to adjust to rapidly shifting ground on trade and security issues.

About HumSub TVIntroductionHumSub TV is Pakistan’s leading forwarding-thinking, edutainment channel, aimed at promoting and upholding peace, interfaith harmony and social responsibility within Pakistan through informative and insightful programmes and documentaries; analytical interviews on issues pertaining to social, economic, legal and environmental set-up; dedicated shows to canvass and thereby promote the culture and heritage of Pakistan and in-depth coverage of national and international news.

HumSub TV is the first channel and thus a pioneer within its own right that mainly focuses on emphasising the “Rights” as well as the “Obligations” of the citizens in light of the Constitution of Pakistan, numerous International declarations signed by the Government and various laws that have been promulgated over the years but are not in the knowledge of the common citizen.HumSub TV also aims to enter into bilateral agreements with other countries to promote not only their culture, heritage and tourism, but also their educational and medical facilities.Following the successful launch of HumSub TV’s head office in Blue Area, Islamabad; the bureau office has been set up in Lahore.

VisionTo project positive image building of Pakistan and inculcate nationalism, as per the vision of the founder of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

MissionHumSub TV is resolute about the promotion of a pluralistic, inclusive and egalitarian society in Pakistan where all citizens are allowed to contribute to promote interfaith harmony, peace and collective wisdom in the social, political and economic development of Pakistan and to encourage critical and lateral thinking in the society. HumSub TV strives to make a positive contribution to this end.

HumSub TV’s ThemeHumSub TV, Pakistan’s first EDUTAINMENT Channel, has been set up for not only those audience residing in Pakistan or overseas but the international community on the whole. The vision of the channel is to project positive image building of Pakistan and inculcate nationalism as per the vision of the founder of the nation.

HumSub TV strives to make a positive contribution to this end by promoting pluralism, inclusiveness and egality in Pakistan and give voice to the suppressed. It endeavors to act as a positive catalyst for social change and Pakistani nationalism. It envisions providing a platform for airing critical and lateral thinking and collective wisdom by inviting positive minded intellectuals and opinion forming individuals for the promotion of interfaith harmony and peace in the social, political and economic development of Pakistan.

Whereas the channel airs upbeat edutainment programmes, it, nonetheless, has the primary objective of countering negative anti-Pakistan regional and international propaganda as well as advancing fundamental rights as encapsulated in the Constitution of Pakistan.

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